Canberra Symphony Orchestra Magazine

Inspired by a poem by George Meredith, “The Lark Ascending” is one of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ most beloved works.

In the Second Piano Concerto and other creative output of that period, Rachmaninoff displays “…a new assuredness of style…an almost overwhelming abundance of melody,” writes Scott Davie.

“I start with a provocation. Is the beauty and virtuosity of Western classical music still enough? Should it be entering the debates of our time?…I also ask us to reflect on how and why music can process seemingly intractable notions and turn them into feelings that we can respond to. Climate change comes to mind…what can music do?”

Leah Curtis: “In To Rest in Peace, I saw a visually stunning film capturing a moment of time in Kuwait during the tensions of the 1990 Iraqi invasion. I wrote a score to resonate with the humanity of the main character.”

“When we are young, we jump headfirst into stories, into magic and fantasy and make-believe. We spend hours occupied with the tales we have invented ourselves, play-acting them and recruiting others to take part. I’ve been thinking about this recently: my seemingly lost ability to leave the reality of bills and deadlines for the creations of my imagination.” – Megan Stellar

Phillip Sametz explores Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet score, “…one of the most widely loved of the classical ballet repertoire…”.

In the Second Piano Concerto and other creative output of that period, Rachmaninoff displays “…a new assuredness of style…an almost overwhelming abundance of melody,” writes Scott Davie.

“Viridian is the work in which Meale decisively turned his back on modernism,” writes James Koehne.

One of Mozart’s last operas, La clemenza di Tito (The clemency of Titus), is a story of friendship and forgiveness triumphing over jealousy and violence.

“Mozart was a crucial turning point in the entire history of opera and musical drama,” says conductor Dane Lam, joining National Opera and the CSO to present La Clemenza di Tito.